Research MethodsPSY 468WQ (30284)

Spring 2019M: online; W: 2:00 – 3:50

ITC 002

Office hoursM: 9:00 – 11:00Tu. 10:00 - 1:00(and by appt.)

ProfessorJaime Cloud, Ph.D.Office: Todd Hall 318 Email: cloudj@wou.eduPhone: x89211 Website: www.jaimemcloud.com

Course DescriptionThis course covers fundamental concepts and statistical procedures used by psychologists to describe, summarize, and make inferences about data. Students will learn and apply the scientific method to an individual research project.

Pre-requisites: PSY 201, PSY 202, 301, PSY 467 (C- or higher), and Math 105 or Math 111.

Psychological Science Program Outcomes (PSO)1. Explain and/or apply principles, skills, values, or ethics of psychology.2. Apply appropriate research methods to critically analyze human behavior.3. Identify and demonstrate knowledge of sociocultural and international diversity.

Course Goals: After completing PSY 467 and 468, the successful student will be able to:• locate, interpret, critically evaluate, and summarize psychological research (PSO #2, ULO:

Inquiry and Analysis), • formulate testable hypotheses and identify appropriate study methodologies to assess those

hypotheses (PSO #2, ULO: Inquiry and Analysis), • collect, analyze, and interpret data using appropriate statistical techniques (ULO:

Quantitative Literacy),• demonstrate effective writing and oral presentation skills in APA style, including the clear

and accurate reporting of statistical findings (ULO: Written Communication), • understand and follow the APA code of ethics in treatment of participants and data reporting (PSO #1).

Textbook and Supplementary MaterialsRequired: • Gravetter, F. J., & Wallnau, L. B. (2014). Essentials of Statistics for

the Behavioral Sciences (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN: 978-1-133-95657-0

• Scientific calculator

Strongly recommended: • American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American

Psychological Association (6th ed.). ISBN: 1-4338-0561-8

Dr. Cloud will not respond to emails about questions that can be answered by looking at the syllabus.

University PoliciesAccommodations: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact your instructor and the Office of Disability Services, APSC 405, or at 503-838-8250, as early as possible in the term. Students needing medical or mental health care can access the Student Health and Counseling Center by calling 503-838-8313, emailing health@wou.edu, or by walking in to schedule an appointment.

§ Veterans statement: Veterans/active duty military personnel with special circumstances are encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor.

§ Service animals: Students who require the use of a service animal in non-public areas (e.g., classrooms) must request an accommodation through the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Please visit the ODS website or call 503-838-8250 for more information.

Mandatory reporting: As an employee at Western Oregon University, I am required by federal law to report any incident of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. You have the right to maintain your privacy and not tell me any personal information that could result in mandatory reporting. If you disclose to me (verbally or in writing) about something that has occurred to you or another student, I must inform the appropriate university staff. Reporting is intended to safeguard students and provide students support. If you would like additional information, please visit www.wou.edu/student/assault_care.php.

Student success concerns: If I determine that your performance in this class is placing you at academic risk, you may be referred to a member of the Student Success Team. A student success specialist will offer to work with you to address issues and develop a student success strategy. Regardless of whether a referral has or has not been made, you are ultimately responsible for tracking your own progress in this course. If you would like to meet with a student success specialist regarding any academic struggles you are experiencing, please contact Student Success and Advising at 503-838-8428 or at studentsuccess@wou.edu.

Student absence notification: If for some reason you are absent due to an extenuating circumstance or medical situation, you must report the incident through official channels before I will make an exception for late or missed work (if applicable). To complete a Student Absence Notification Request, go to http://www.wou.edu/advising/absence or contact Student Success and Advising at 503-838-8428 or at studentsuccess@wou.edu.

Course StructureThis course is organized as a “flipped” classroom, such that all lecture material will be communicated outside of class and class time will be devoted entirely to hands-on experience. You are responsible for completing the assigned readings and video lectures prior to each class session. Each class session will involve (1) a quiz and (2) a lab activity (i.e., SPSS assignment).Given that this is a hybrid class, we will only be meeting once per week (on Wednesdays). I recommend that you use the time we would have been in class were this not a hybrid to watch the video lectures.

Dr. Cloud will not respond to emails about questions that can be answered by looking at the syllabus.

* You may not participate in studies conducted by PSY 468 students in your class!

Classroom PoliciesEmail: You are expected to check your university email account on a daily basis for communication from me concerning the class.

Email is the best way to contact me. I aim to return all inquires within 24 hours; however, I will not respond to emails about an assignment the day before it is due so do not wait until last minute to begin working on an assignment! Also remember, emails are not texts; they should have appropriate structure (subject, salutation, body, and signature).

Classroom Conduct: In order to effectively communicate class material, all students are expected to be non-disruptive and respectful of one another during lecture. Please refrain from arriving late, leaving early, or packing your belongings until after class is dismissed.Cell phones and laptops should only be used for note-taking purposes.

Class notes: It is important to me that you are able to focus your attention on lecture material. For that reason, electronic copies of the PowerPoint slides will be posted on Moodle. I recommend printing the slides before each video lecture to take notes on while watching.

Video lectures: The lectures for this class will be video recorded and posted to Moodle. You may not - nor may you allow others to - reproduce or distribute my video lectures without my written consent (regardless of whether a fee is charged).

Extra credit: You may earn up to 10 points of extra credit by participating in research projects conducted in the Behavioral Sciences Division* or by attending a PSY 468 poster session (other than your own). Detailed instructions for each of these options will be posted on Moodle. In addition, you may earn 2 points of extra credit by attaching a slip demonstrating that you visited the Writing Center to any graded written assignment.

Grade-grubbing: A responsibility of teachers and scientists alike is to be humble. As such, I remain open to the possibility of being wrong. If you feel that you have been assigned an unfair grade, I encourage you to meet with me and explain your rationale. That said, I am not receptive to students who ask me to give them a higher grade out of the kindness of my heart (e.g., “but I need a B to graduate!”). I respect students who take ownership of the grade they earned.

Incompletes: I do not give incompletes to help students avoid receiving an F. To be eligible for an incomplete, you must be passing the class but lack one essential requirement. In addition, I must find your reason for requesting an incomplete acceptable. Please see me for more details.

Finals week attendance: In accordance with university policy, students must be available to meet during finals week. Our scheduled meeting time is Thur., June 13 from 2:00 – 3:50 PM(this is when Block Exam 2 will be administered). If you will be unavailable on that date, do not take this class!

Dr. Cloud will not respond to emails about questions that can be answered by looking at the syllabus.

Information for Student ResearchersCanceling a study session: You are responsible for conducting research in a professional and

ethical manner. In the event that you must cancel a scheduled session for any reason (e.g.,

illness, weather), you are expected to (1) contact participants through the SONA website ASAP

to notify them of the cancellation, and (2) post notice of the cancellation at the research site prior to the study session or contact the research site at least 30 minutes in advance to ask that

notice of the cancellation be posted. To cancel a session in Hamersly Library, contact 503-838-

8418 or email libweb@wou.edu. To cancel a session in WUC, contact the front desk at 503 838-

8261. If you believe that you provided sufficient notice (e.g., 12 hours) of your cancellation,

please do not award participants credit for your study session. Instead, you should mark them as an "excused no-show."

• NOTE: Such cancellations should only be made under emergency circumstances and not for

the simple convenience of researchers. Failure to follow this procedure may result in having points deducted from your final grade at a rate of 10 points per incident.

Miscellaneous information:• Walk-ins are not allowed! All participants must sign up for timeslots through the SONA

website to participate in studies.

• You may not advertise your study on the white board in the library as doing so may give

participants the impression that they can walk-in to participate (rather than sign up for a timeslot through the SONA website).

• If you reserve a room in the library, you must arrive on time to claim that room, otherwise it will be released for other students to use. That means if you reserve a room from 9:00AM –

11:00AM but no participants sign up until 10:00AM, you must still arrive at 9:00AM to hold

the room.

• Once you reserve a room in the library, wait to receive an email confirmation for your room reservation before listing that room as the location of your study on SONA. The library

employee who processes your request may assign you to a smaller room that is more appropriate for the size of your study.

• Participants will be able to sign up for a study until the study appointment is 12 hours away. If

there are fewer than 12 hours remaining until a timeslot begins, that timeslot will not be visible to participants.

• Participants will be able to cancel a study appointment through the SONA website until the study appointment is 12 hours away. If there are fewer than 12 hours remaining until the study

appointment begins, participants must contact you directly (e.g., via email) to cancel.

• If a participant fails to show up for a study appointment but provides you with an excuse before or soon after the timeslot passes, mark the student as an “excused no-show.” If the participant does not contact you at all, mark the student as an “unexcused no-show.”

• Once you have all the participants you need, you may cancel upcoming timeslots, but only if

NO participants have signed up. If participants have signed up for a timeslot, you must honor

the commitment you made and keep their study appointment.

Dr. Cloud will not respond to emails about questions that can be answered by looking at the syllabus.

Course Engagement (10 pts.)Doing well in this course requires a high level of engagement both inside and outside of class. You are expected to watch all lectures and participate in class discussions and activities.

Lecture Attendance: Although no formal attendance policy will be enforced, you are expected to attend class everyday. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make arrangements to get the materials you missed.

Participation/Effort (10 pts.): At the end of the semester, I will assign you a participation grade based on your participation in class discussions, activities, and your observance of the basic rules of classroom conduct. If you do not actively participate, you will receive 0 pts. (which could result in a lower letter grade).

Weekly Quizzes (50 pts.)It is critical that you complete the reading assignments and watch the video lectures prior to the start of class. To ensure that you are understanding the material, there will be a 30-minute quiz (closed book, no notes) at the start of class each week. Each quiz will consist of 5 short-answer questions, worth 2 points each (10 points total). Only your best-scoring 5 of the 6 quizzes will count toward your grade. No exceptions will be made, even for excused absences.

Weekly Labs (120 pts.)The majority of class time will be spent working on a lab assignment in which you will analyze data using both direct computation and SPSS. As part of each lab, you will be asked to summarize your findings in APA-style. There are 6 labs worth 20 points each. If you miss class or do not complete a lab before the end of class, you will have until 11:59 PM on the following Monday to submit the lab before it is counted as late.

Late policy: Each lab is due in .docx format via Moodle. A 20% deduction will be applied to labs that are not uploaded to Moodle by 11:59 PM on the following Monday. Labs submitted after the start of class the following Wednesday will receive a 0. No exceptions will be made, even for excused absences.

Exams (200 pts.)There will be two non-cumulative Block Exams worth 100 points each (the second exam will be given during the final exam period). Each exam will consist of multiple-choice and short-answer questions that assess your conceptual knowledge, ability to apply statistical formulas, and use SPSS. Remember to bring the formula sheet, statistical tables, and a calculator!

Study Guides: I do not provide study guides as doing so would rob you of an additional opportunity to rehearse lecture material. In lieu of study guides, I will post two practice exams.Make-up Policy: If you miss an exam, you must take the make-up exam during Finals week (there will be no exceptions). The only time available to take a make-up exam is Thur., June 13 between 10:00 and 2:00 PM. You are required to contact me ASAP to schedule a time to take the exam during this 4-hour window.

Research Report (140 pts.)In this course, you will complete the research project that you conceptualized in PSY 467. Recall that this project is similar to the project you completed in PSY 301, except your study design must include two independent variables, at least one of which must be experimentally manipulated. In PSY 468, you will complete the second half of the paper, which includes the abstract, results, discussion, and references sections, as well as a table/figure and an appendix. Although you are encouraged to share articles and ideas with fellow students who are conducting studies similar to your own, your research report MUST be written independently.

Your research report will be graded across the following phases in PSY 468:IRB materials 15 pts.Data file + data analysis 20 pts.Results/Discussion draft 50 pts.Poster (or oral) presentation 30 pts.Final paper 25 pts.Total 140 pts.

Detailed guidelines will be provided in class and posted on Moodle for each phase of your research report.

Plagiarism detection: WOU instructors use Turn-it-in, a plagiarism detection and learning tool that is now integrated with Moodle, to identify the percentage of similarity in your writing to journal articles, internet sources, and other students' papers in its database. It then generates a report for instructors highlighting potentially unoriginal work. The use of Turn-it-in is subject to the Privacy Pledge and Policy posted on Turnitin.com, and you will retain all rights to your written work.Late policy: Each phase of your research report is due in .docx format via Moodle by noon on the designated day. A 10% deduction will be applied for assignments or papers that are not uploaded to Moodle on time. An additional 10% deduction will be applied for each 24-hour period thereafter that the assignment or paper is late up until 1-week at which point a grade of 0 will be given. No exceptions will be made, even for excused absences.

Dr. Cloud will not respond to emails about questions that can be answered by looking at the syllabus.

Paper due: Wed., Feb. 11

Day 1: Submitted after noon on Feb. 11, but before noon on Feb. 12

Day 2: Submitted after noon on Feb. 12, but before noon on Feb. 13

10% deducted

20% deducted

100% deducted

Day 7: Submitted after noon on Feb. 17, but before noon on Feb. 18 70% deducted

1-week late (or later)

…

A A - B + B B - C + C C - D + D D- F

100 –93%

92 –90%

89 –87%

86 –83%

82 –80%

79 –77%

76 –73%

72 –70%

69 –67%

66 –63%

62 –60%

< 60%

520 –483.5

483 –467.5

467 –452.5

452 –431.5

431 –415.5

415 –400.5

400 –379.5

379 –363.5

363 –348.5

348 –327.5

327 –311.5

≤311

GradingThere are 520 total possible points in this class. Your total is determined by the sum of scores you receive on each of the items below.

Dr. Cloud will not respond to emails about questions that can be answered by looking at the syllabus.

Academic IntegrityI expect scholastic honesty and will report all instances of suspected dishonesty. Policy violations may result in a score of 0 for an assignment and possibly a failing grade for the course. Make good choices. According to the WOU Code of Student Responsibility (Section 574-31-030), academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:•Cheating: Intentional use or attempted use of artifice, deception, fraud, and/or misrepresentations of one’s academic work.

•Fabrication: Unauthorized falsification and/or invention of any information or citation.

•Facilitating dishonesty: Helping or attempting to help another person commit an act of academic dishonesty. This includes students who substitute for other persons in examinations or represent as their own papers, reports, or any other academic work of others.

•Plagiarism: Representing without giving credit the words, data, or ideas of another person as one’s own work in any academic exercise. This includes submitting, in whole or part, prewritten term papers of another or the research of another, including but not limited to, products of commercial vendors who sell or distribute such materials.•Any use or attempted use of electronic devices (e.g., cell phones, iPads, laptops, etc.) in gaining an illegal advantage in academic work in which use of these devices is prohibited.

= 50 pts.

= 120 pts.

Total = 520 pts.

+Quiz 1(10 pts.)

Quiz 2(10 pts.)

Quiz 3(10 pts.)

Quiz 4(10 pts.)

Quiz 5(10 pts.)

Quiz 6(10 pts.)+ + + +�

+Lab 1(20 pts.)

Lab 2(20 pts.)

Lab 3(20 pts.)

Lab 4(20 pts.)

Lab 5(20 pts.)

Lab 6(20 pts.)+ + + +

= 210 pts.Participation(10 pts.) +++ Block Exam 1

(100 pts.) Block Exam 2

(100 pts.)

= 140 pts.++Data analysis(20 pts.) ++ Results/Discuss.

(50 pts.)Presentation

(30 pts.) Final paper

(25 pts.)IRB materials

(15 pts.) +

Course Schedule – Spring 2019(subject to change)

Block 1

Wed., Apr. 3 N/A N/A N/A CITI training

Wed., Apr. 10Logic of ANOVAOne-Way ANOVAEffect Size & Post-Hoc Tests

12.1 – 12.212.3 – 12.512.6, p. 375 – 377

Quiz 1/Lab 1CITI training due IRB materials

Wed., Apr. 17 Repeated Measures ANOVA 13.1 – 13.2 (through post-hoc tests p. 406)

Quiz 2/Lab 2IRB materials due Data

collection/data analysisWed., Apr. 24

Factorial DesignsTwo-Way ANOVAInterpreting ANOVA Results

13.3 (through p. 417)13.3 (p. 418 – 424)13.3 (p. 425 – 427)

Quiz 3/Lab 3

Wed., May 1 BLOCK EXAM 1 N/A Register for AES R/D

Date Lectures to Watch ReadingsQuiz/Assign-ments

Final Exam Week Reading #4

Thur., June 13(2 – 3:50PM) BLOCK EXAM 2

Dr. Cloud will not respond to emails about questions that can be answered by looking at the syllabus.

(Suggested) Time

Management

Block 2

Wed., May 8 CorrelationsPartial Correlations

14.1 – 14.4 (through p. 467)14.4 (p. 468 – 471)

Quiz 4/Lab 4Data/analysis due! R/D

Wed., May 15 Simple RegressionMultiple Regression

14.6N/A

Quiz 5/Lab 5R/D due

PresentationWed., May 22 Chi-Square: Goodness-of-Fit

Chi-Square: Test-of-Ind.15.1 – 15.215.3

Quiz 6/Lab 6PDF of poster due (Sun., May 26)

Wed., May 29 No class: poster presentations @ AES on Thur., May 30 N/A Presentation due Final paper

Wed., June 5 Oral presentations (if any)Review for exam Final paper due

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